Emerald Cocoon
by Edinachan
Summary: Harry is left alone in the shed by the Dursleys at the end of summer. Dumbledore is in denial about his Golden Boy's relatives however hires Charlie to help out Filch and Hagrid in their work and to protect Harry...
1. Summer Pains

I do not own Harry Potter and I have no financial gain from this story.

**Emerald Cocoon**

**Chapter 1**

**Summer Pains**

The creature opened its eyes, blearily looking around its surroundings, it shifted its body to better fold its huge wings against its body fending off some of the cold of the cave walls. It lifted its head off the stone to look out at the world outside its hiding place. Fortunately its attackers didn't find the opening of the cave last night so it could have a peaceful night, if a little bit cold. It got to its feet and peeked out of the hole he found in the mountain side, while madly trying to escape from its chasers. It was the perfect hiding spot. Its opening hidden by the lush green plants falling over it. Given as it was summer the plant's flower's smell was thick in the air around the cave, effectively hiding the creature's own scent, but in the cave it was pleasant.

This was probably because of the many small passages through the cave. Too small for the creature to use, and probably for everything above the size of mice, but they were very successful in airing the cave. It paused in its thoughts to start preening the feathers on its wings. They became quite ruffled in the chase the day before and it didn't dare set them to rights in fear of the smallest movement alerting its pursuers to its whereabouts. However that wasn't the case now as it hadn't noticed any movement in the sky outside the cave except for a few small birds and a falcon on one of the branches down in the valley. So the creature started to leisurely examine, clean and set its feathers back to their original glory. The feathers were deep purple with a hint of silver at the ends of each one of them. They were quite beautiful if it had to say so itself. Not the best for hiding in the sky in daylight with its body covered in black fur too, but perfect for night-time. And it liked that time of the day better anyway. Once it was finished with its wings it started on its fur. Cleaning its whole body. Licking its huge front paws, it brought them back to also clean its ears and head. After the ritual it went back to napping the day away. It was not overly hungry and was aware of the fact that it would stand out like a sore thumb in this environment.

When the day was nearing twilight it started its cleaning ritual anew, then, once finished, it pushed its sleek body out of the cave, taking extra care with its wings. After a few stretches it unfolded the huge wings on its back and with one powerful push of its hind legs, it soared high in the night sky. After a momentarily indecision while it was sniffing the air, it decided on its route. The creature flapped its wings and flew away in the direction of Northern Britain.

HPCW

Life was again miserable for Harry Potter. It was his fourth summer away from Hogwarts, and he felt the happenings of his latest school-year like a thousand font weight on his slim shoulders. As he was cleaning and weeding the yard for his Aunt Petunia he had ample time to think about his fourth year and the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He was so excited in September when he heard about the competition! He was planning on cheering for the Hogwarts champion with his best friends, Ron and Hermione, and he was looking forward to writing and receiving letters from Sirius, his godfather, or even having some midnight fire chats in the Gryffindor common room! He was awed by the huge horses the Beauxbatons students arrived with and agreed with Ron that the Durmstrang's ship was "freaking cool". He was having a relatively calm school year.

Then that stupid cup had to spew out his name as the "fourth champion". Everything was downhill from then on. He was once again thrust in the spotlight. He still couldn't believe that Dumbledore, Hogwart's headmaster, couldn't do anything about it. It just wasn't fair! Then Ron and almost the whole school turned on him. The school population didn't really matter to Harry. He already knew that public opinions were more fickle than Lavender Brown's hairstyles. But the betrayal of Ron hurt something deep inside him. Ron was his best friend, he was supposed to stand by him and believe in him, like Harry would've done if Ron was in his place. And to top it off Ron was jealous of all things! Jealous of his fame and the spotlight. The two things Harry hated more than anything. It's like he didn't realize that his fame came from the death of his parents, moreover of something he didn't even remember without the "aid" of a dementor. And those memories were far from peachy too. He still had the occasional nightmare from which he would awake in cold sweat his mother's scream ringing in his ears. Though his nights these days were occupied by nightmares of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and mostly of the Third Task. And Cedric.

The school and Ron once again stood united behind him and the other Hogwarts champion Cedric Diggory after the First Task in which they had to battle bloody DRAGONS. For a stupid egg that SCREAMED. It really wasn't among his favourite times of life. Then there was the whole fiasco with the lake and Moody. He found himself being...doubting of the ex-auror. Not exactly suspicious, but he found the man disconcerting. Which he thought was normal since the man had an eye that could see through everything and was spinning in his head! So he didn't spare much thought to that strange feeling he got around the man. He found it odd that his "most important" thing was Ron. The youngest Weasley boy hadn't been the best friend that he had been in previous years. Though Harry still treasured him as one of his first and best friends. So maybe that's why...It was really easy to forgive him too, once he came to his senses and apologised. But Harry didn't think that forgetting would be just as easy.

Then came the Third Task. In which he had to face Voldemort and Cedric died. In front of him. Without no apparent reason. Just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And it was Harry who insisted on taking the cup together...And Voldemort came back. He used HIS blood to get a human body again. Or at least something that mostly resembled human, with a nose like a snake's and slitted, blood-red eyes. He really was a frightening sight. Though Harry couldn't properly appreciate it since he had to fight for his life once again. And once again by some insane luck and help from some astral projections of Voldemort's late victims he was saved. So he went back to Hogwarts holding onto Cedric's lifeless body like a lifeline. Dumbledore wasn't smiling for once, no twinkle in his aged blue eyes. No one was smiling, most was screaming really. Seeing Cedric's body was a shock to the few people who could actually see it. Then Dumbledore pried his fingers from around Cedric's wrist.

The black headed boy focused his eyes on his grandfatherly headmaster and said "He's back". Dumbledore didn't need anything else to be said and then the Diggory's arrived and Moody dragged him away from the scene to his office. Where more madness arose. As it came out Moody wasn't Moody but a Death Eater in disguise. What the hell with the teachers Dumbledore let in his school? Though Harry was in too much of a shock to take much of what was said in. He was once again saved by Snape and Dumbledore and whisked away to the Hospital Wing. There he got his winnings from a fuming and scared Fudge and after a lengthy account of what has happened in the graveyard sent home to his "loving" relatives. That was 2 weeks ago.

Harry realized that the poor weed he was holding started to fume in his hands. He hastily dropped it before his Aunt or Uncle noticed it too, the smoke fortunately disappeared the moment he let go and his concentration was broken. Two weeks and he has yet to receive any correspondence from his friends, Sirius had written him a note earlier that week that he had to lay low for a few weeks so he couldn't send any letters for that time. Harry accepted that without problem since he was worried about his godfather. He didn't send him any letters either, waiting for Sirius to give the OK, but Ron and Hermione had no Aurors on their tails. They had nothing to stop them from writing a letter to Harry. Yet they hadn't.

"Boy!" came a loud shout from the house.

Apparently Aunt Petunia had something else for him to do. Figures that she would notice the fact that he was finished with the yard sooner, than Harry himself. The teenager grudgingly looked over two weeks worth of hard work. He re-painted the fences and repaired some damage on the shed, then painted that too. Now everything was stark white. The epitome of an everyday garden. Like all the others on Privet Drive. And now he was finished with the weeding as well. His aunt's flowerbeds were immaculate once again. Harry slowly trudged up to the back-door taking care not to bring mud onto the kitchen tiles. Aunt Petunia was in the middle of making a snack for Dudley who was expected to arrive in a few minutes. He left hours ago to go to some football match in the elementary school's gym. Harry stared at the turkey and ham sandwiches in envy, his stomach giving a sympathetic grumble. His Aunt scrunched up her nose at the noise and tossed him some bread with cheese.

"Hurry it up and then go mow the lawn, before Vernon gets home. Then go to your room and don't make a sound!" came the usual order.

Not that Harry wanted to be anywhere near his Uncle. These days he was in an even more disagreeable mood than ever before. Harry reckoned that something must be up at the company. Maybe they're downsizing? That would certainly explain a lot. He was becoming used to disappearing the moment his Uncle arrived home. Most of the time he reeked of alcohol and once when Harry was still unaccustomed to this new development he caught Harry and gave him the worst thrashing he has ever received at the hands of a Dursley. Some bruises still hurt. So he wisely avoided Vernon, whenever he could. He finished his meagre snack and went back to the garden to start mowing. He was almost halfway through when Vernon's company car drove up the drive-way and his meaty cousin tumbled out of it closely followed by his even meatier Uncle. Harry bowed his head and lifted his shoulders trying to be as unnoticeable as possible. Dudley threw a sneer his way but Vernon seemed not to notice him at all. He dejectedly walked up to the front-porch and walked in with his son on his heels.

Harry quickly finished the mowing after that and tried to escape into his room just as Aunt Petunia told him to do. He was just taking off his whale sized sneakers, when he heard his Uncle's voice from the kitchen.

"They're examining every board Petunia! They are talking about bringing in fresh meat to lead the departments! Today they were all over my offices and people, scrutinizing everything! That stupid Peters was over yesterday telling me how spectacularly the examiners liked his new working policy! They didn't speak to me at all! They're already finished with the inspection by the time they came to my personal office, telling me that I would get the results next week! And then they left! Johnson said they told him there was nothing to worry about since everything seemed to be in working order! Petunia, I..." his Uncle's furious rambling faded away as they ,moved to the living room.

Harry quietly slipped up the stairs, quickly relieved himself in the bathroom and washed away most of the grime, he also drank some water to alleviate his hunger. After all that day he only had the bread and cheese Aunt Petunia tossed him the afternoon. Then he went to his bedroom, lay down on his back and stared at the ceiling contemplating what he heard. So the company was not downsizing but there really was a chance of Uncle Vernon becoming unemployed. Harry shuddered at the thought. Uncle Vernon would most definitely make it his fault somehow, and then life would be even more miserable for him at 4. Privet Drive.

Harry tossed and turned with his troubled thoughts. There was no Hedwig to take his mind off of matters as the snowy owl had left on a hunting trip a day ago. Though she'd be back that night probably. At last Harry fell into a restless sleep, where Voldemort was laughing at his battered body while Uncle Vernon was screaming profanities at him. And Cedric's dead eyes were staring into his.

HPCW

Several nights later Harry yet again awoke to the sound of his own muffled scream. He lay panting in his bed clutching the thin blanket to his chest. He took a big breath and relaxed his body after making sure he was alone in the room. Hedwig was sitting in her cage gazing at him worriedly. She released a soft hoot, trying to calm her distressed master when she saw his head turned towards her. Harry smiled weakly at her, reassuring the bird and Hedwig soon went back to sleep. It was early morning and Harry reckoned he should just get up and start on the Dursley's breakfast. He dressed and moved downstairs into the kitchen. He got ready to make the standard Dursley breakfast. Toast, ham, eggs, honey, 5 different kinds of sugary cereal and the juice and tea.

He was just finishing the bacon when Uncle Vernon came down the stairs like a hippo, the stairs creaking under the weight. That was strange. Usually it was Aunt Petunia who came down first to examine the breakfast Harry prepared and water the plants in the kitchen window while peering outside at the neighbouring houses and to the street. Harry never knew what she hoped to see at 6:30 am. After all theirs was the most boring neighbourhood of all. Just as he finished this train of thought his Aunt appeared on the steps. Uncle Vernon seemed distressed and he only sent a small sneer Harry's way, Aunt Petunia placed a calming hand on his arm and spoke to him in soft tones.

"Everything will be alright you'll see, Vernon dear," she said "You have been working in that company since your graduation. They won't let you go." she tried to calm him.

However Uncle Vernon had huffed at her soft spoken assurances, then his bleary eyes focused on Harry's listening form at the oven. His eyes narrowed and Harry felt the hair on his nape stand on end.

"Boy," the huge man's voice was unusually calm and Harry risked a glance his way as an acknowledgement "you do realize what is at risk right now, don't you?" came the ominous question.

Harry stared at him mutely and gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head.

"Then..." Uncle Vernon seemed to hesitate for a moment and Harry felt the hair on his back join the ones on his neck in their silent vigil. "You do your FREAK stuff, or tell the other FREAKS about our predicament because if I lose my job then you're not to step into this house again!"

By the end of his speech his Uncle was screaming at him and Harry shook from the shock of the man's declaration. In a crazy moment he almost said that he would be happy to be rid of them, but then his headmaster's words came echoing back to him. "_You have to live in Privet Drive, Harry. You'll be safe there. Your mother's blood will protect you."_ But how could he make the boss in Grunnings decide to let Vernon Dursley keep his job? It was impossible! And Hedwig couldn't take a letter that fast! He was so washed away in his worries that he almost didn't realize that Uncle Vernon was again talking to him.

"It's probably your and your freakishness' fault that I may lose my job in the first place! Bad blood, dear Marge always says bad blood! Well you do something to make everything as it was once again or you'll be out of this house so fast your feet won't touch the ground!"

By the end of his tirade Uncle Vernon's head closely resembled a ripe eggplant and Harry was shocked speechless. Well of course he knew that the Dursleys didn't consider him family or even a distant relative, more like a pest, but he never really believed they would toss him out. Not even after the fiasco with Aunt Marge. And that Uncle Vernon would ask him to use MAGIC! Harry's head was reeling by it all.

His Aunt seemed to have made Vernon calm down enough so that he could leave for work. Then she came back and scrunched up her nose again. Harry was still standing stock still, spatula in hand, bacon forgotten on the oven and smoking.

At his Aunt's reappearance Harry stumbled out of his shock and noticed the smell of something burning. He quietly swore and turned to toss the ruined bacon and start on a new one, but his Aunt took the spatula from him and replaced him by the oven to his great surprise. Aunt Petunia however just chucked him a bit of bread and cheese again and told him to go and start on the laundry. Harry obeyed in a daze with a bit of cheese in his mouth.

"And do pray that Vernon'll still have his job by the end of the day." were her parting words.

Harry almost choked on his cheese.

HPCW

Harry spent the day as a nervous wreck. He sent a letter to Dumbledore, telling him about his predicament, but Hedwig would only arrive with the letter around the next day morning. By then Uncle Vernon'd be at home and the matter decided... Harry still thought it would be prudent for the headmaster to know in case his Uncle lost his job and made true on his threat. Maybe he could go live with Sirius! This was such a comforting and pleasant tought that Harry almost started to hope for his Uncle to throw him out. Because then, certainly, Dumbledore couldn't make them change their minds? Though he didn't really look forward to the beating he would receive for failing in "bewitching" the company president. Although maybe they wouldn't give Uncle Vernon the sack, after all he did work there since forever. Maybe they'll just demote him? Not like that wouldn't earn him a trashing...

Harry was folding the washed and dried clothes when his Uncle arrived home. It was rather late already, so Harry had a pretty good idea, that the day was not a success for his Uncle Vernon. He didn't dare go downstairs. It was only Vernon and Petunia with him in the house as Dudley had box training in the afternoon. His Uncle's voice was loud enough for him to hear upstairs. And slurred. He had been drinking. Fabulous. Harry thought dejectedly.

"I's over Pet'nia! I bec'me un'mploy'd! How'll we eve' pay fo' Dudley's school? An' the boxin'? Wha' of the house Pet'nia?"

"Oh, Vernon, I'm sure will think of something. I'm sure you'll find a new job in no time, and I can go looking too..."

"I's that freak' fa'lt! He c'me back from tha' freakish school of his an' made me l'se my job! My job, Petunia!" ranted Uncle Vernon in his drunken state "MY JOB!"

Then Vernon broke down. Harry could hardly believe his ears. Uncle Vernon was loudly sobbing and by the sounds of it still cursing him for ever being born. The green eyed boy felt a stone lodge itself in the pit of his stomach. This did not bode well for him.

"Vernon!" obviously Aunt Petunia had never before seen her husband fall apart like this either. "I'm sure we will be alright!" by the end her voice was close to breaking too.

"Pet'nia, we still haven' finished payin' the mortgage! What'll bec'me of us now?" Uncle Vernon was slowly getting himself under control just to lose his cool again. This time to anger. "It's that freak' fault! Where is he? Where's the boy, Pet'nia?"

Harry felt cold wash over him. If Petunia told...

"He's upstairs, Vernon." she said "Please, don't mess up the washed clothes."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Aunt Petunia's voice was cold. She was just as ready as Vernon to find a scapegoat for the tragedy that befell her family. And she was worried about the clothes! Then he heard his Uncle's booming steps on the stairs. Harry watched the door in morbid fascination. The booms stopped which clued him in that Uncle Vernon was in front of the room's door as his Uncle's and Aunt's room was the first on this level. The door creaked and Uncle Vernon stepped into the room. His face was a curious mix of red, from the alcohol, and purple, from the rage.

"Into yo'r room, whelp!" cried Uncle Vernon.

Harry carefully put the folded shirt away into the wardrobe before turning and slowly moving towards the door. He thought of reminding Uncle Vernon, of Sirius. However Uncle Vernon had already had some inkling that his threats about Sirius were empty. After all no murderous godfather showed up after Harry received his first beating that summer. And they wouldn't since Harry never told. Not that Uncle Vernon knew this.

"NOW!" apparently his Uncle had lost what little of his patience remained and grabbed Harry's upper arm to drag him into his room.

Once the door was opened Vernon threw Harry inside with such force that he fell on his back on the bed. For which, he supposed, he should thank some god as the floor or the walls would have most likely hurt his back. The less injuries he got tonight the better. Hedwig was thankfully absent from his room as she was still delivering the letter to Dumbledore. Fat lot it would help him now. His Uncle turned and closed the door with a loud thump that sent the cat flip shaking. Then he rounded on Harry, who had by then left the bed to stand behind it in front of the wall. Putting as much distance between himself and the raging man as possible. As it was, the distance was still way too small. Uncle Vernon crossed the room to Harry in three huge steps and in the nick of a moment Harry was sent flying into the wall from the slap that connected with his face. He clutched his right cheek and stared fearfully into his Uncle's thunderous expression.

Then all hell broke loose.

HPCW

Later Harry laid wheezing on his threadbare bed, resting his aching body. Uncle Vernon had been too far gone in his drunken rage to feel tired from beating his nephew. So the hits and kicks and slaps continued for a long time. Far longer than ever. By the end Harry felt as if he had no whole bone in his body and was curled into a foetal position on the floor, whimpering softly. He never screamed except for the time he felt his collar bone snap. That was the first bone he felt breaking. By some miracle his arms and legs were spared of that fate. Ironically, those were the only body parts he really needed whole to be able to do the menial labour for his relatives, Harry thought. As he lay there he made a mental list of his injuries. Bruises covered his whole body, his lips were busted and swollen. He most probably had a few cracked or broken ribs, hence the difficulty in breathing. From his lying position he didn't see his abdomen but it felt tight and it ached something horrible. He really hoped he didn't have any internal bleeding. He wouldn't be able to tough that out. He felt thirsty, but had no strength to move. Not that he would've dared to leave the relative safety of his room. He lifted himself painstakingly slowly off the floor and gently lowered himself to lay on his bed. By then the room was shrouded in darkness. Harry shifted his head so that he could see the stars in the square of the window. Then fell into a restless, but healing sleep.

HPCW

The following day Harry was awoken by his bladder and after a quick look at his watch, 5:10, decided to sneak into the bathroom as it was way too early for his Uncle to be awake. Especially after how drunk he had been yesterday evening. In the bathroom, he had quickly relieved himself then examined his still tight abdomen in the mirror. It was covered in purple and red bruises, just like the rest of his body, however the colour seemed to be more intense around his left kidney. Harry felt dread build inside as he studied the damage. He most probably should go to a hospital, hell he should go because he had at least three broken or cracked ribs on top of his injured kidney or just plain because he was BEATEN.

Harry sighed and thought about how his hair had grown back when Aunt Petunia cut it. Maybe with a little concentration he could heal his kidney. Harry was sceptical as he never before heard or tried self-healing but didn't really see any other option. So he tried to concentrate his magic and send it to the critical area. He felt the warmth of his magic coating his soul, soothing him and his nerves. However he could not grab onto it long enough to steer it in the direction of his kidney. He looked at his watch again and saw that he had been in the bathroom for fifteen minutes already. He would only have time for one more attempt. He concentrated on the warm feeling of his magic and when he found it he imagined two hands wrapping around it and separating a thick tendril of it and pulling it in the general direction of his kidney. The endeavour left him panting and sweating but he was rewarded by seeing the swelling and redness around his kidney recede. He let a small, tired smile grace his face as he hurriedly left the bathroom to dress in clean clothes and then start on breakfast. He had no delusions of his relatives letting him lie in due to his injuries.

In the kitchen Harry contemplated if he could heal his other injuries the same way he had his kidney. Well it was not completely healed, Harry still felt some tightness around it but it was lessening gradually. If he took into account how much it took out of him to heal his kidney he didn't think he could heal his whole body. And Uncle Vernon would probably beat him again if he realized that Harry healed himself. Though maybe he could help his ribs as they were giving him a lot of trouble. Not to talk about his collar bone! That was a pain in the ass. Harry could barely move his shoulders so making breakfast was really hard and slow work. He still almost finished breakfast by the time the Dursleys emerged from their beds. Aunt Petunia came down first, giving him a strange look over. While taking in Harry's battered body and seeing the obvious frown born from pain on his features, she wore an uncharacteristically worried and, dare he think it, shameful expression. However it quickly changed into one of self-assuredness and disdain.

"When you're finished go outside and prune the roses," she started on his daily chore list "then clean the basement. I think I heard some rats in there when I last went down."

Not that she went down there all that often, Harry thought. The basement was mostly used for storing stuff that they didn't need but thought they'd use one day. Even the old sofa was down there. So his Aunt's fears of having rats was completely founded. That sofa would be a perfect nesting place for them.

Harry was once again given a piece of bread and cheese, even though he was hoping for something more substantial as his injuries needed the most energy he could get to heal. After a moment's hesitation Aunt Petunia handed him a small piece of bacon. Harry could almost not believe his eyes. He took the food saying quiet thanks to his Aunt, then left the kitchen to go to the shed for the pruning scissors and some gloves to protect his hands. Once there he tried to grab hold of his magic again and heal his collar bone and ribs. This time he could hold a bigger amount of it so in a few minutes his collarbone was completely healed, but by then he had no strength left to do his ribs too.

He was once again reduced to a sweating and shaking mess. Which obviously didn't agree with his damaged ribs as they were aching horribly. However now he could carefully stretch his hands out and above his head so he could efficiently prune the roses. They were in the backyard which was surrounded by high hedgerows so no nosy neighbour could see his bruised face. Pruning the roses would have been hard and slow going even if he were in top health and, as he obviously wasn't, it took twice the usual time. He was only happy that Uncle Vernon would not hinder his work as it would have been counter-productive for him. The sun was shining and the day was already very warm despite the early hour, so Harry was really grateful for the shade the flowers provided him with. By lunchtime he was finished with the roses and had put the cut off parts in the compost area.

He saw Dudley stretch in his window indicating that he has finally awoken. He would now go downstairs and loudly demand food, Harry mused with a sneer on his face. He flipped his sweaty bangs from his eyes and decided to go inside and quickly wash his face and hands before starting on the basement. After the scorching sun, the cool and damp air of the basement was a rather inviting prospect. Inside he carefully looked around for Uncle Vernon and located his form in the living room chair, reading through the job offers in the newspaper. He quietly sneaked up the stairs and into the bathroom. Where he used the loo and washed most of the sweat and grime off his colourful skin. Then he went downstairs and took the rat poison from his cupboard with several other cleaning supplies. He had a moment of crazy longing while in there. His Uncle Vernon would've never fit through its door... he shook his head and went down to the basement with his head between his shoulders as he felt Uncle Vernon's stare on his back. Then he heard his cousin's loud inquiry as to why his father was at home. Harry immediately picked up his speed not wishing to be around when his Uncle made Dudley understand that the days of his pampering were, as of yesterday, officially over.

HPCW

Harry emerged from the basement a few hours later reeking of rats and cleaning chemicals. He had discovered a rat family nested in the cushioning of the old sofa and felt horrible for killing the babies. But he couldn't save them and they would've died without their parents either way. Like this, at least they didn't suffer. However now the basement was clean and after a few days the adult rats would be gone too because of the poison he placed all around the place. His stomach gave a loud rumble near the kitchen and Aunt Petunia gave him a disdainful sneer.

"Go wash up, then help me prepare dinner," she ordered " depending on Vernon's mood you may or may not get food."

Harry resignedly walked up to the bathroom yet again to wash up and drank as much water as he could without upsetting his stomach. Then he quickly changed his dirty clothes to another huge T-shirt and washed out grey sweatpants that were held on his skinny hips by a drawstring. Then he descended the stairs to help prepare a dinner that he may not even get to taste. He helped Aunt Petunia mash the potatoes and put the spices into it while she was tending to the meat. After the potatoes Harry quickly made salad, mostly for his Aunt's sake as the whale like males in the family would never touch anything that even resembled healthy. And Harry of course would never get any of the scrunchy, fresh salad. He was absolutely salivating by the time he was setting the table and Uncle Vernon and Dudley appeared in the kitchen.

"Petunia dear, the paper has no job offers suitable for me" Vernon told his wife "how will I ever find a new job?"

"Oh, Vernon, you have just started looking," reassured him Aunt Petunia, while placing the bowl of mashed potatoes on the table "maybe you should call Marge and ask her is she knows about any openings around her home."

"Yeah, that would probably be the best, pet. However it's awfully far from here."

"Yes, I believe commuting would be quite impossible from here," acquiesced his Aunt "but we have talked about the possibility of moving yesterday, remember?"

"WHA'?" came the loud and rather disgusting; he spat mashed potatoes all over the table, not even Ron would've done that; interruption from Dudley.

Harry had a similar inner reaction. If the Dursleys moved then the protections around the house would lose their effect.

"Oh, Duds, you must realize that without your Father's income this house is way too big for us," she cried "not to mention the mortgage and your school fees!" She seemed close to crying now and softly hiccuped at the end of her sentence.

"Yeah, Son," continued Uncle Vernon "if I cannot find a job around here that offers about the same salary as the one I had had in Grunnings, we'll have to move."

He sent a hateful glare Harry's way while saying this as if the whole thing was Harry's fault. And the emerald eyed teen saw his dinner fly out the window. As informing as this little chat was, he was sure he wouldn't get dinner with Uncle Vernon so forcefully reminded of his current state of unemployment. He was just thankful that his Uncle had not yet remembered his promise of kicking him out.

"But I have FRIENDS here!" Dudley bellowed "We can't just up and move away! I bet it's the FREAK'S FAULT anyway!"

Dudley was panting by the end and Harry felt his blood run cold. He fearfully looked at Uncle Vernon to gauge his reaction. The obese man's face was yet again turning into an unhealthy shade of purple. However to Harry's great surprise he did not turn his way but to Dudley.

"IT'S NOT LIKE WE MADE THIS DECISION BECAUSE WE WANT TO MOVE EITHER!" he shouted at his son, who dropped his fork in shock "YOU MIGHT AS WELL LOOK FOR A SUMMER JOB IF YOU REALLY WANT TO STAY AND HELP US MAINTAIN THE HOUSE!"

His cousin tore himself from his stupor at that. He was not used to being shouted at, not to mention to not getting what he wanted.

"LIKE HELL!" he screamed back "WHY DON'T YOU SEND THE FREAK TO WORK? OR MAKE HIM DO SOME OF THAT FREAKISH STUFF HE LEARNS IN HIS FREAKISH SCHOOL TO GET US OUT OF THIS MESS! IT'S THE LEAST HE COULD DO!"

Dudley was yet again panting and red in the face. For a moment it seemed like Uncle Vernon would slap his only son for being disrespectful but then he rounded on Harry.

"YEAH, BOY! Why don't you do some hocuspocus or deamenti whatnot and spare us the hardships? After all we did put a roof over your head, fed you, clothed you! Make some gold or something!"

By the end of his tirade Vernon was out of breath and Harry was deathly pale and shaking in his position plastered to the kitchen cupboard.

"ANSWER ME BOY!" Vernon screamed at him, Harry's body flinched violently.

"I...I cannot use magic du...during the summers." he stuttered and he wouldn't even know how to do what his Uncle asked from him. From his studies so far he realized that one could only make gold with the Philosopher's Stone and the only Stone he knew of was destroyed back at the end of his first year in Hogwarts. And he would NOT give a knut to them from the money he inherited from his parents! Seeing the murderous look on his Uncle's face Harry hastily added.

"But I sent a letter to my headmaster, describing your situation and my involvement in it!" he cried "He will probably be able to help!"

He was even telling the truth. Though he couldn't write about the moving plans as he had just been made aware of them. And he hoped that Headmaster Dumbledore would help HIM and not the Dursleys...

"Good." Vernon said "Hope to everything that is saint to such freaks like you that this Headmaster of yours will be able to help! Don't you believe for a moment that otherwise I won't make good on my threat of kicking you out! Ungrateful bastard!"

Harry gulped audibly and meekly bowed his head.

"Yes, sir."

Uncle Vernon huffed and went back to eating. Dudley was still sulking because of the comment his Father made about summer work and Aunt Petunia was pale because of all the shouting and quietly sniffing. Harry was clueless as to what was expected of him now. Should he go to his room? Or stay in case he had to do the washing up? It was as if his Uncle felt his indecision because he lifted his head and looked at him.

"Go to your room whelp and I don't want to hear a sound from you!" he ordered " None of that blasted hooting either!"

Harry gratefully escaped into his room and was thankful that Hedwig still hasn't arrived with the Headmaster's reply. He didn't feel ready to face whatever the Headmaster would decide and so long that Hedwig wasn't near his Uncle he could rest easy and not worry about finding his treasured companion dead on his hardwood floor. His injuries and the stress of the day had left him exhausted so Harry gently lowered himself onto his bed mindful of his still aching ribs and almost immediately fell asleep.

HPCW

The next day Harry was awoken by soft hoots. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled at Hedwig who had arrived from her long journey from Scotland...or from wherever Headmaster Dumbledore lived when school was out. With a blink Harry realized that if Hedwig was there then so was the old wizard's reply to his letter. Just as he was thinking this he spotted the rolled up parchment on his old dresser. He carefully got out of bed and went petted the snowy owl for a job well done.

"Sorry Hedwig, but I don't have any more owl treats."

The bird reproachfully snapped its beak then flew to its cage to drink. Harry smiled at his avian friend's antics and approached the letter. After seeing the seal he quickly unrolled it and started reading.

**Dear Harry,**

**I hope this letter finds you in good health. Your letter caused me and Fawkes a great deal of worry. You must not leave the protection of your Aunt's house. Please do try to reconcile with your Uncle for I believe that such family disputes shall be dealt by within family. However if your Uncle still insists upon your leaving then immediately alert me. You should keep the piece of parchment I have sent with my letter for I have charmed it to send anything you may write on it immediately to a similar parchment in my office. However you have to understand that the charm only works for one message. So do think before you use it. You must also have realized from the lack of post from your friends that owl post is no longer as safe as we would like it to be. So do not use Hedwig for any correspondence. This letter destroys itself in 30 seconds after being opened. I wish you an enjoyable summer holiday.**

**Best regards,**

**Albus Wulfric Brian Dumbledore**

**Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Grand Sorcerer**

**Chief Warlock of the Winzengamot**

Harry numbly sat down on his creaky chair. This was Dumbledore's reply? Harry tells him that his relatives want to toss him out to the streets and he answers like he were some unruly teenager blowing a simple argument out of its proportions? Did he even really send that piece of paper? Suddenly the letter in his hand combusted leaving a small piece of parchment to softly flutter to the ground. Harry carefully lifted it to his face and examined it. It looked just like any other piece of blank parchment. Harry had a sudden picture of the Marauder's Map in his head. He smiled softly despite the infuriating letter. He would just have to deal with the Dursleys on his own like he did before.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Good day to you my dear readers! If you have read so far then I would like to thank you for giving my story a chance and apologize for any spelling or grammatical error I made. I did proofread this chapter but only once as my eyes were starting to bleed and I was too enthusiastic to wait another day till posting it. This is not my first fanfiction but the first that I have planned out almost completely, so there's a real chance that I'll finish this one!

I would appreciate it if you told me your thoughts on this chapter. :) I'm open to constructive criticism (even demand it!) and if you feel that my writing lacks in something or notice any inconsistencies or twists in logic please review or PM me! This stands for any future chapters too!


	2. Summer's End

**I do not own Harry Potter and I have no financial gain from this story.**

**Chapter 2**

**Summer's End**

Harry didn't tell his relatives about the reply he received from Dumbledore. The Dursleys never believed in the efficiency of owl post so they wouldn't inquire about a letter from his headmaster for at least a week yet. There was no real reason to tell them beforehand that Headmaster Dumbledore did not, in fact, intend to present them with a huge pile of gold.

Harry smiled, the Weasley twins would most probably procure some leprechauns from somewhere and give their gold to their friend's relatives. Fred and George still acutely remembered the time they had to practically break Harry out of his room. And in the beginning of summer he gave them the money he won in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He had priceless allies. The thought made his smile grow. The twins were such an amusing pair! Although he really hoped they got Ron a normal robe for the more formal gatherings.

Aunt Petunia chose this moment to enter the kitchen, scrutinizing the already prepared parts of the breakfast with a pinch on her face. Harry only had to finish the bacon and then their breakfast would be ready.

"Your owl..."

Harry started badly at her voice and some oil splashed out from the pan. Aunt Petunia scrunched up her face at the mess. The green eyed boy frantically thought of what to say if his Aunt asked him if Hedwig had brought back a reply. How the hell did she even notice it that the bird had returned? Hedwig had been sleeping since that morning and Harry had told her to be especially careful not to be seen or heard by the Dursleys!

"Yes, Aunt Petunia?" he tried to make his tone as normal as humanly possible.

"Yes, your owl," she started again "When will it be back with the reply from that Headmaster of yours?" she asked.

"It will take her approximately two weeks," Harry said with an imperceptible sigh of relief "Scotland is far away."

His Aunt seemed to fold in on herself at his answer, her eyes becoming glazed, her expression closed off.

"Maybe you should've used normal post!" she suddenly cried "That wouldn't take so long! Blasted bird, who would even think of using animals for delivering post?"

Harry was startled by the intensity behind her words. However he didn't dare ask why had the letter became so urgent. He slowly turned to serve the bacon and while doing this took a longer look at his Aunt. She had the post clutched in her white, bony hands. Staring fixedly at the one on the top. Uncle Vernon came into the kitchen too, looking for Petunia, followed by Dudley who was only there for the food. His Uncle took in his wife's tense form and expression then rounded on Harry.

"What have you done now, freak?"

However Aunt Petunia surprised Harry by lifting her head and taking her husband's attention from their nephew.

"Vernon, we've gotten a letter from the mortgage company."

Uncle Vernon blanched but then tried to reassure Petunia.

"Don't worry, pet," he said "I'll just write them a letter asking for extension..."

"No, Vernon," Aunt Petunia interrupted him, once again close to crying "We asked for an extension last month! Remember? Because Dudley needed new boxing equipment and they said that they'd put last month's and this month's payments together for us! They're giving us a week to pay!" she cried at last.

Vernon blanched even further.

"But they cannot do that! We are supposed to get more time to pay!"

Aunt Petunia just tossed him the letter to read and fell into a kitchen chair.

"They're ta...talking about s...some de...delays we've already had with pa...payment in the past!" she sobbed "Hyenas!"

Dudley was looking back and forth between his parents, who were, for the first time ever, breaking down in front of him. He had never faced such a situation before. Never even knew they had to pay for their house still. His father's salary always seemed infinite, after all he always got what he wanted. He never thought that they ever had money problems. His face became drawn and stuttered not knowing how to deal, he turned desperate eyes to his hated cousin.

However Harry was just as dumbstruck as Dudley and could not even relish in the hilarious thought that DUDLEY was seeking HIM to HELP him. Though the feeling was not long lived and he saw the exact moment his cousin decided that somehow this was also Harry's fault.

"What about the freak's headmaster?" he called to his parents.

Harry tensed when his Uncle's eyes focused on him.

"Yeah, you said you sent an... "owl" to him!" he cried with sudden enthusiasm and hope colouring his voice.

Harry felt sick. They were actually expecting him to help them as he could, and do it quickly and gratefully too! AS IF they ever cared about him! It had been just two days ago that his "dear" Uncle Vernon nearly beat him to death! And he dared to look at him like that?

Harry's body tensed further and he had almost blown his cover, but thankfully Aunt Petunia intervened.

"The owl won't be back for at least two weeks yet." She was already over the moment she couldn't hold her despair, so her voice was almost normal, if a bit stuffy. However her face was still red from crying and she was blowing her nose into a tissue.

"Typical! A useless freak will have a useless postal pigeon!" raged Uncle Vernon, letting lose on his despair in the only way he was capable of "Whatever freak had even had the idea to use blasted ANIMALS to deliver letters?"

Harry bristled at his Uncle for belittling his beloved and responsible and utterly USEFUL, snowy owl. Fortunately the large man didn't see his darkening expression. However Dudley had seen it and the obese boy had already had too much stress for one morning, he needed to find a way of release. What else would have been better than Harry? His Father was still raging and his Mother was slowly folding back in on herself, only half listening to her husband's rant about useless freaks.

Dudley heaved his substantial weight from the kitchen chair, he had already finished his breakfast he wouldn't have moved otherwise, and moved towards Harry. His smaller cousin was still watching his parents with barely disguised contempt in those brilliant green eyes of his. Freakish eyes, those. However his face was a mask of careful indifference. Which infuriated Dudley, how come the freak didn't feel the same inner turmoil that he was? With his face set the teenager slammed his weight into Harry's side, sending him crashing against the cabinet.

Harry gave a loud yelp as he was sent flying into the kitchen cupboard by his cousin. The fall painfully jostling his injured ribs. His face lost its remaining colour, that was left by the rage he felt at the Dursleys antics, and he pulled in a large breath to keep his painful whimpers at bay.

It was not Dudley's intention but he successfully took his parents from their self-despair and wallowing, because the plates in the cabinet clattered loudly upon contact with Harry's lithe body.

"The china!" Aunt Petunia screamed.

"BOY!" bellowed his Uncle.

Aunt Petunia was faster than her husband and quickly grabbed Harry's arm and hauled the boy from the top of the cabinet, shoving him behind herself so that he could examine her precious tableware.

Harry yet again lost his breath as he was tossed forcefully towards Uncle Vernon, his ribs protesting loudly. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the impact with his Uncle's fat belly. It would at least be soft, he thought. However his upper-arms were grabbed by two meaty hands before he could collide with the huge man. Their hold so powerful it was painful. Harry looked up into Uncle Vernon's murderous face, then he was dropped and slapped hard on his left cheek. Harry fell on his bum in the middle of the kitchen looking up at his family with huge, intense green eyes that seemed to spat horrible curses at them.

Uncle Vernon flinched back by the inconceivable something that he saw swimming in his nephew's eyes.

Aunt Petunia was just staring at the unruly mop of black hair, feeling the air simmer around her as if something evil was building up to lash out at them. She only once had ever felt such a thing before, and she only remembered it because it was a rather memorable day. Her 13 years old nephew had blown her sister-in-law up like some balloon. She shuddered.

Dudley was just watching the scene with contempt. No one was moving and his cousin was just sitting there staring like a lunatic. Which he was of course, but still. He was about to open his mouth to bellow about the unfairness of it all when his Father spoke.

"Boy, you go upstairs and start cleaning the bathroom, NOW!" he ordered with false bravado "and don't you dare break anything else!"

For a moment Harry didn't move and Aunt Petunia didn't dare breath as she felt that something peak around her in the air. Then it started to subside and Harry slowly lifted himself into a standing position.

"Yes, sir."

He gave them one last sweeping look and left them to their despair in the kitchen.

"Vernon," he heard Aunt Petunia say "maybe it's time you called Marge."

As Harry was going up the steps he heard Dudley's furious scream and stomping, then the thud of the front door. Apparently Dudley had left in a fit of anger.

HPCW

Harry had almost finished cleaning the bathroom by the time he calmed down completely. He was already cleaning the mirrors and could hardly believe that so much had happened so early in the morning and in just a few minutes! After all the whole fiasco was over in half an hour! It was surreal.

For a moment he thought about using the small parchment and telling Dumbledore that the Dursleys were probably moving away from Little Whinging in less than two weeks. He didn't expect the mortgage company to give much more time to them.

He huffed at the thought of receiving another well-meaning letter from his Headmaster, telling him to keep his head low, make up with his relatives and don't get into any more petty squabbles with them for he was probably misunderstanding or otherwise blowing the whole issue out of proportion. He sneered at the thought.

He was getting really tired. He had not eaten since the day before, when Aunt Petunia had given him the bread, cheese and that glorious piece of bacon. And because owl post was as it appeared prohibited by Dumbledore he didn't receive any of his usual care packages from the Weasley matriarch. His growling stomach made Harry doubly realize just how much he relied on the weekly shipments of delicious cakes, and fruit breads.

It was nearly lunch when Dudley came back. He looked hatefully at Harry, who was preparing lunch.

"Welcome back Duddykins!" greeted him Aunt Petunia.

Dudley just gave her a baleful look and went up to his room.

Petunia's face became one of grief, for she knew that Dudley was sulking because of the prospect of moving away from Little Whinging, and that was not something she could change to accommodate her little boy.

Harry looked at the expression contemplatively, he had never seen such an emotion on her face. He could kind of understand her after all, although they had no love for him, they, especially Aunt Petunia, doted on Dudley. She could not imagine her son lacking anything. It was probably a hard blow for her that now, she didn't have the resources to make her baby son "all better".

The raven haired boy quietly snorted. Then immediately felt bad for his behaviour. They were still his family! Even if he considered his newly found godfather more of a "family" than them, they were still blood related. He should feel sorry for them! Or feel something beside the guilt of not feeling anything, when looking at his Aunt's worried face...Harry let out a loud sigh, his whole body sagging with it as he chopped carrots on the kitchen counter.

Petunia who was too engrossed in her grief over her son's behaviour didn't notice the snort, but lifted her head at the whole body sigh his nephew produced. She realized that since cleaning the bathroom the boy held himself differently. That morning he was obviously still in pain, especially his chest area, it clearly showed in his movements. But now, he moved around much quicker and in a more fluid way. However he seemed tired, she furrowed her brows in thought. Then she heard Vernon arrive from grocery shopping and a made a snap decision.

Harry felt drained to the bone. He tried healing his ribs after he had calmed down and thought that he had been successful. But he just felt so tired! He really wanted to go to sleep. His hands and legs felt like they weighted at least a ton and he had trouble focusing his eyes. He felt as if he was swimming through the air, from one location to the other. If self-healing took so much out of a person then no surprise that no one he knew was using it. Asking for or buying a potion was so much more easy! There even was a spell to heal broken bones. This thought brought back the rather unpleasant memory of Gilderoy Lockhart so Harry immediately curbed it.

A hand suddenly entered his line of vision and he quickly turned to see Aunt Petunia handing him a piece of bread with the usual cheese and another piece of bacon. He stared at her with wide eyes. He just couldn't understand her anymore!

"You go up to your room and eat it there. I don't want to see you until its time to make dinner." she ordered "And don't you make a sound!"

Harry was not one to question his luck so he quickly left the kitchen. He wolfed down the food and told Hedwig to wake him in a few hours before settling down for a quick nap.

HPCW

Back in the kitchen Petunia nervously waited for Vernon to appear.

"Pet, I'm back." greeted her Uncle Vernon "Where is that good for nothing whelp?"

The woman smiled tightly at him and took a deep breath reminding his husband of the morning might not be such a good idea after all.

"Vernon," she said " did you consider what Marge told you on the phone this morning?"

"Yeah...I guess it would be for the best. But what to do about the boy?"

"We could leave him with Mrs. Figg. Like we always do when we go on a holiday." answered Aunt Petunia.

"Yeah, you go ask the batty woman." Vernon said "but before that we should tell Dudley."

His wife sighed and her face became sorrowful.

"He is still sulking in his room."

Seeing Petunia's face, Vernon went to fetch his son himself for the conversation.

Dudley entered the kitchen behind his father, eyes sweeping the kitchen table for food. When he realized that lunch was not served yet his expression turned back to its original sulking state.

"Yes?" he asked rather uninterestedly.

"Son, we're talking about going to Aunt Marge's place for a few weeks. She told me this morning that there were a few job offers she knew about, but it'd be best if I were there to apply personally and not just go there for the interviews." said Uncle Vernon.

"Yes, and while we're there, we could look at a few houses that are on sale." his wife took over, but seeing Dudley's thunderous expression and mouth opening in protest she quickly continued "We were thinking of making it a kind of holiday and you'd have a huge say in what we decided of course."

Dudley brightened a bit.

"I'd get to choose the house?" he asked.

"We wouldn't buy one that you didn't like, son." assured him his Father.

"But if we have money to buy a new house then why are we moving, at all?" he whined.

Petunia made a surprised face.

"Well, of course, we wouldn't buy it immediately." she said "We'd have to stay with Aunt Marge for a while."

Dudley felt the emotions war inside him. For one he loved his Aunt, if it was at all possible then she spoiled him more than his Mother, but he could absolutely NOT stand the dogs. They were everywhere. And though he was absolutely her favourite, she still loved the damned animals more. And there were a lot of them. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

"What of the freak? He's not coming right?"

His parents exchanged a look and it was his Father who answered him.

"Of course, not. This is going to be a family only trip." he said then turned to Petunia "Would you go and ask her right now, Pet? Then we should be able to leave at the end of the week. That way I'll still have ample time to talk with that damned mortgage company."

"Yes, dear." she said "It should only take a few minutes. Then we can have lunch. Dudley, dear please wash your hands okay?"

HPCW

A huge black grim-like dog padded through the streets of Southampton. He received word from Albus Dumbledore asking him to open his family house in London for the Order of the Phoenix. So now he was going to London, Thankfully no auror knew of his animagus form, but that was sadly not true for Death Eaters. So Sirius Black was not ecstatic at the prospect of going back to the capital which was brimming with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers. However he hoped that he would be able to have his godson come over and live with him for the rest of the holiday once he opened the house again.

If it was habitable and of course if Harry still wanted to live with his slightly crazy godfather; he was improving, but 12 years in Azkaban was a long time, or in a home that reeked of dark magic.

He suddenly stopped, snout lifted to the sky. He felt something with huge magical power pass above him. He thought that it was maybe a wizard but tossed the thought. The power felt more wild and unrestrained than any trained wizard's should, and no wizard of that power level would travel with a broom, long-distance. He lifted his lips, showing his canines and growled softly when he saw a falcon sized animal travelling through the sky. It was far up, much further than any falcon would go. He watched it till it disappeared across the horizon moving towards the North. Then he continued his journey to London, thoughts filled with his ancestral home and Harry.

HPCW

Arabella Doreen Figg was just putting away the brush he used to set Mr. Tibbles fur to rights when he received a call from Windsor Regional Hospital that they received his estranged husband the night before with a several inflamed injuries. He didn't have any other contact information with him, his condition was deteriorating and they asked her to allow a life saving but rather risky operation. She would have to go there in person and sign the documents as soon as possible.

She didn't waste a moment. Quickly put out enough food and water for her cats to last at least a week and ran to the street. She lifted the smart little device she received from Dumbledore for cases of great urgency to call the Knight Bus.

Stan Shunpike opened the doors with a big smile and Mrs. Figg gratefully accepted the hand extended to help her board the bus. She absent-mindedly paid the 11 sickles for the ride and refused the offer of hot chocolate, her mind already making up tales about an exceptionally fast cab, to explain her swift arrival at the hospital.

She had already signed the documents when she remembered Harry, and not seeing the boy for the last few days. She wasn't too concerned though as she remembered that Mundungus Fletcher was still there to look out for the Boy-Who-Lived. That thought wasn't as comforting as she wished so she was almost ready to send an owl to Dumbledore when some nervous nurse asked her to follow. The black haired hope of the wizarding world and the letter to Dumbledore was forgotten in her haste to the doctor's office.

HPCW

Petunia was unaware of Mrs. Figg's so she stood in front of Mrs. Figg's house on Wisteria Walk for a good ten minutes before she concluded, that the old woman wasn't at home.

She sighed and went home, intent on trying again the next day. They would not bring the boy with them to Marge's place.

HPCW

Harry slept half the afternoon away and when Hedwig woke him he felt less tired but still drained. He would have to cut back on the self-healing. Thank God he had no serious injuries left un-treated. He yawned and stretched, then moved to go downstairs and start making dinner for his relatives.

When he arrived he noticed that they were in slightly better spirits, even Aunt Petunia, than when he last left them. He felt that that was a good sign for him. Maybe, if they stayed that way he could get dinner too!

HPCW

The following days passed quickly. Harry tried to stay out of his relatives' way and they didn't seek him. He still had his daily chore list, but no more beatings and he got fed more often too. He believed that his Uncle had gotten the accumulated rage and sorrow out of his system when he beat him a few days back. He felt better too. The bruises were now dirty yellow in colour rather than purple or green. The constant tiredness had faded too. So, all in all, life was pretty good.

He had finished mowing the lawn again and was wondering about what had happened to Mrs. Figg. The old woman would show up everyday with Mr. Tibbles in tow at least once a day before. Though admittedly he had not been around for the last few days so he didn't know if it was only that day that Mrs. Figg decided to stay home with her army of cats.

He felt a little guilty too. Voldemort had been back for almost two months and he din't make any real effort to know anything about the happenings in the wizarding world. He still didn't get over Cedric's death. He was quite used to his own life being targeted. He wasn't really concerned about his fight with Voldemort in the graveyard. Shit like that happened every year. He was not about to be intimidated by a few killing curses aimed his way. Or the Cruciatus. Though that thing had hurt like hell! However until the graveyard he had never seen anyone die. Ginny got close to it in second year but she seemed more like someone sleeping. Down in that chamber with Tom. And he didn't remember his parent's death. He remembered her Mother's scream and a green light on the wall, then a brighter light of the same colour, probably aimed at him, but nothing else.

Since Third year Harry came to the conclusion that his crib must have had a blanket or something thrown across its side, blocking his view. Most Muggles did this to get their offspring to sleep sooner. Either way, Harry was happy for the small reprieve. Her scream was enough, he did not want to remember the death of her Mother too.

Cedric was the first he actually saw die. He did not wish to experience anything like it again. So he didn't try to sneak away Uncle Vernon's morning paper looking for clues on the wizarding world. He thought about it, but the resurfacing face of Cedric with his dead eyes made him decide against it. So now he was blissfully unaware of the things happening in his chosen home. Snape would no doubt sneer at him disdainfully for thinking like this. The bastard.

He sighed and walked inside just to find the whole Dursley family in the kitchen apparently waiting for him. He stood and looked at them enquiringly.

Petunia was nervous. She really was. But Vernon had her convinced that the boy couldn't use magic outside of school so it was fine. Still! They were about to leave the boy alone in their home! Well not in, but with his magic...!

"So boy," started Uncle Vernon undisturbed by the brilliant green eyes focusing on him "we decided to go and visit Marge for a few weeks. We most probably won't be back till your..." he paused "freakish, school starts, so you'll have to get to the station on your own."

Harry blinked.

Dudley misunderstood the stunned blink so he quickly sneered Harry's way.

"What you thought you were coming with us?"

Harry blinked again but no emotion appeared on his face. He did not dare celebrate too soon...

"So I'm to stay with Mrs. Figg?" he tentatively asked. He remembered that Yvonne had not moved back to England from Majorca yet.

"No." Aunt Petunia said and Harry started cheering inside, NOW it was time to start celebrating.

"You are going to stay in the shed!" Dudley gleefully screamed and laughed as if he had just told the joke of the century.

However Harry saw on his relatives' faces that it was, in fact, not a joke. He felt cold again. They were going to leave him in the bloody shed for weeks? What about his school stuff? What about food? He was about to hyperventilate.

"When are you leaving?" he croaked. In a few days he could maybe sneak his trunk out and get enough food together...

"Tomorrow morning."

Harry felt his world tilt. This couldn't be true! They could not mean to abandon him in the garden shed! He heard his Uncle's order to help his Aunt pack as if it was said through water. He followed her Aunt in a daze.

HPCW

The next day Harry dazedly sat in the shade of the rosebushes near the shed. His new "home". It was bloody ridiculous. At least they had left him food. Not a lot, mind you. But they left some. And when he had no food left he would use Dumbledore's parchment. The headmaster wouldn't be able to tell him to "make up with his relatives" again, he hoped.

He groaned and laid down in the grass. He might as well sleep a little bit. He was still feeling kind of tired after all.

His breath soon evened out and he found himself in a dream of long corridors and many doors.

HPCW

Harry spent that night in the shed. He happily noted that the Dursleys had not only left him food but had brought his school trunk out of the house too. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on the situation, they didn't know about the loose floorboard so Harry's most treasured items were still in the house.

But he could start on homework! He was gleeful at the prospect of actually being able to write his essays without blotching ink all over his bed linens and the parchment. He could always come back for the other things with Sirius or Mr. Weasley. He smiled and scooped up some parchment and an ink bottle with his eagle feather quill and set them down on the grass outside the shed. He went back in and picked up his Charms and Transfiguration textbooks and the one on History. He lay down in the sunny grass, put the History book under the parchment and started on his essay, for Professor McGonagall, on the Difference Between Transfiguring In-Animate and Animate Objects.

After an hour of scribbling and re-reading the material Harry's mind started to wander. He thought about the corridor he had seen last night in his dream and had half a mind already of going and fetching his Divination book to look up what it might mean. Then he snorted. He was not that desperate quite yet to read about Divination of all things. The book would most probably say that it meant his imminent death, just like the crazy Professor.

He stretched and rolled onto his back intent on having a nap. The sun had moved while he was writing his essay so now the rosebushes gave him a bit of a shade.

He was about to close his eyes and let himself be lulled to sleep by the warmth of the day when he heard furious hissing and scratching.

He sat up and looked towards the noise. His eyes widened and he quickly got to his feet rushing to separate the fighting animals. It was most probably one of Mrs. Figg's cat and a small snake. His movement chased the cat away but the snake was now suspiciously watching him, its body tense and littered with small scratches.

"_Are you all right?" Harry asked._

The snake flinched in surprise and lifted its head.

"_You sspeak?" hissed the sneak, looking him in the face._

"_Yeah" he answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his head "Are you all right?"_

"_Yes, human child, I had just been surprissed, I have never met a speaker among humanss yet. How did you come to possess the ability?"_

"_Umm, I'd rather not talk about that."_

"_All right, human child."_

"_My name's Harry" the black haired boy said._

"_Name?" the snake queried._

"_Yeah, it's what my friendss call me. Don't you have a name too?"_

"_No, we do not have namess."_

Harry nodded pensively.

"_Would you like to ssunbath with me? Or you were going ssomewhere?" he asked._

"_I would gladly share the ssun with you, will you protect me from the cat again?"_

"_Of coursse." Harry promised._

He went back to his spot by the rosebushes but a little more in the sun and laid back down. The snake slid onto his stomach and they enjoyed the sun on their skin for a few moments.

"_Do you live around here?" Harry asked at last._

"_Yeah, I live near the wallss of the big human nest under a sstone." the snake said "Where are the other big humanss? They do not like me."_

"_They left." the lying boy assured his new friend._

"_Good." he felt the small reptile nod against his chest "Have you talked to other snakess too?"_

"_Yeah, the firsst one was thiss huge boa consstrictor, in a zoo, when I was 10. It's a really funny sstory." if one forgot about the part where he was tossed into his cupboard and locked up for almost a week. _

"_Would you tell me?"_

"_If you'd like me to." he felt the snake nod again so he startedthe tale of making the glass wall of the cage disappear and setting a huge snake free._

"_It even said 'Thankss, amigo. Brazil, here I come.' It was fabulous." Harry smiled._

"_Yess."_

They laid in silence for a few more minutes then the snake raised its head.

"_It wass good talking with you, Harry. But I musst go and hunt now."_

"_All right. Will you come out again tomorrow?"_

"_Yess."_

The snake slithered away and Harry watched its tail disappear in the grass. He realized that he should finish his Transfiguration essay, which only needed a few more inches and start on Charms. That one seemed a little harder than what McGonagall assigned them for the summer. Then he would have most of the next day to do his Potions essay...or maybe he would do that a day later.

HPCW

When the day was nearing twilight Harry lifted himself off the grass and collected his school materials. He ate a few bits again and came to the painful realization that his food would not last till the end of summer, which was still four weeks away. With a jolt he realized that he would turn fifteen that night. He smiled ruefully and went to fill up his stomach with water from the garden tap.

When the watch on his wrist showed 12:00 he softly wished himself a happy birthday and wondered if Dumbledore would allow his friends to send him cards or presents. He was always alone on his birthday but these last few years he had come to expect the well-wishes and presents of his friends. They made him feel special and not quite so alone. Hedwig softly hooted at him and he smiled.

"Thank you, Hedwig. You're still the best present I've ever had."

The snowy owl proudly puffed her breast, ruffling her feathers and with another soft hoot flew soundlessly into the night.

Harry watched the small white dot of his bird disappear among the many stars upon the night sky. He was about to move to the shed and go to sleep when he felt a powerful presence above himself. He lifted his head to stare at the dotty blackness trying to spot anything moving or not belonging there. Most of the time he had trust in the wards around the house to keep him safe, but Aunt Petunia was not there anymore, and with his limited knowledge about the blood wards, the absence of his Aunt made him uneasy in the presence of the unseen power.

However that something he felt was already fading indicating that, no matter what it was, it was already gone. Maybe he was hallucinating? He did tire out from studying so much after so long. Maybe the Charms text had been too much. He shook his head and went to sleep.

HPCW

The next day Harry finished his Charms essay and was stretching his legs when he saw his new friend emerging from under a rock by the house.

He took a minute to fully examine the small snake. It was brownish green in colour and had a heart shaped black patch on its head. Its body was covered in black lines too. All in all it was quite a catching little fellow.

"_Hi." he greeted._

"_Hi, Harry." the small snake answered "will you tell me another sstory today while I warm up before hunting?"_

_I"f you'd like me to." Harry said and was crouching down to lift the reptile when he saw something glinting in the grass "What iss that?"_

"_The fat human child hid it there a few monthss back."_

_Harry crouched down and took the small piece of metal into his hands. It was a little bit rusty but not much. The ground was pretty protected from rain in that part of the garden, that's why the small snake made its nest there too. The boy examined it and with widening eyes realized that it was the key to the back-door Dudley had "lost". Harry got an earful and an impossibly long list of chores for that stunt when it was discovered and Dudley obviously told it was his cousin who did it._

He looked at his new friend with a brilliant smile.

"_I can get in the housse now!"_

The snake cocked its head to the side.

"_Why would you want to go in there, Harry?"_

"_I don't have much food left out here and I can't hunt like you do," he answered, still smiling "now I can go in there and get food! And I have ssome sstuff sstill in there too."_

"_So I can assume that you won't tell me sstories now?"_

Harry looked at the snake guiltily.

"_Ssorry 'bout that."_

"_Don't worry about it Harry, Food iss more important." the reptile nodded its head in assurance._

The black haired boy smiled and with a quick wave to the animal ran to the door to try the key. It creaked ominously but then the door opened and Harry's face stretched into an even wider grin.

He quickly made his way to the pantry and saw that food wise he was set. He felt the last of his doubts of the Dursleys not leaving any food in the house fly and took several cans of food and a few eggs from the shelves. It was time to have a huge meal!

HPCW

Harry was finished eating and was getting his stuff from under the loose floorboard when Hedwig flew in the open window.

The boy got to his feet and welcomed the bird with a smile when he noticed the letter tied to its leg. He was confused about it since Dumbledore told him that owl post was prohibited. He thought maybe Hermione and Ron finally got fed up with that restriction and sent him a missive. Not that Hermione would let Ron slip any interesting information in.

He gently untied the letter from Hedwig and felt a small zap in his hands when he touched it. Immediately alert he eyed the letter with suspicion. It lay innocently on the floor where he dropped it and Harry reckoned that maybe it was static electricity between him and his owl.

He lifted the letter and broke the unfamiliar seal on it. On the seal there were three small birds, crows maybe and a hand holding a wand above them. On the borders of it were two barely literal words 'Toujurs Pur'.

**Harry,**

**I hope you're fine in that abysmal place with your muggle relatives. I opened my house in London and Dumbledore allowed me to invite you for the remaining days of your summer holiday. **

**Would you like to come? I would be really happy if you came. Ron and Hermione are here too. Dumbledore put some spell on this letter so you don't have to worry about anyone else reading it but you. **

**You should send your reply on the pesky parchment the Headmaster sent you, okay?**

**I miss you Pup. **

**Padfoot**

Harry smiled and scrambled to find the piece of parchment in his pockets. When he found it he lifted his quill and was about to write out a quick, 'Yes I want to come!' when his hand stopped mid-air, his face frozen.

Would they come and pick him up? Sirius didn't mention anything about that, but probably yes. Then they would discover that the Dursleys were gone!

For a moment Harry felt vindictive happiness erupt in his chest at Sirius and Dumbledore finding out about his treatment but he squashed it down swiftly. They shouldn't know about it! It was none of their business. And what if they knew and still sent him back every summer? He wouldn't be able to take that.

He set his hand down and started to write his reply with a determined face.

**Professor Dumbledore,**

**I would like to take Sirius up on his offer at staying in his London house. I'll be in the Leaky Cauldron by tomorrow morning. I hope that is acceptable and someone can come and pick me up since I don't know where the house is?**

**Harry**

He watched the message disappear, crushing down his memories of a diary that did the same thing and in the end tried to kill him. Sending the blank paper one last look he started to pack.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

I would like to thank you all for reading. :) I hope you liked this chapter as well and I'd like to hear your thoughts on it. :)

So please review! :D

This chapter has far more dialogue than the first one, I hope they don't feel forced?


	3. 12 Grimmauld

**I do not own Harry Potter and I have no financial gain from this story.**

**Chapter 3**

**12 Grimmauld**

The following morning Harry woke to soft knocking on his door at the Leaky Cauldron. He drowsily blinked at the clock on his night-table and saw that it was still only half past 4 am. Tom was most certainly not happy with whoever came at such an ungodly hour. Though it was probably Dumbledore. Coming to round up his unruly charge. Fantastic.

Harry got out of bed and tugged his T-shirt down on his stomach, then went to open the door.

"Yeah?"

"It's me, Harry." came the reply from Dumbledore "Please let me in, my boy."

The old Headmaster's voice allowed no arguments so the boy hastened to open the door. The wizard was obviously not amused with his sudden departure from the Dursley home. Truth be told Harry didn't even expect to be able to get away from Privet Drive before the man arrived, but to even have some sleep in the Leaky Cauldron! He supposed that Dumbledore didn't immediately receive his message. Some emergency parchment it was!

"Good morning, Headmaster."

"Good morning, my boy." Dumbledore didn't seem angry with him, more relieved really "You gave me quite the scare with that message you realize?"

Harry looked sheepish at that.

"Sorry 'bout that Sir," he said "I was just really excited about the invitation!" he finished with a big smile.

Dumbledore smiled back at him and the twinkles came back into his blue eyes.

"Quite alright, my boy. Thankfully no harm came to you."

Harry grinned and stepped further back to give the wizard more room.

"Now, we shall go to Snuffle's place don't you think so?"

That said the old man waved his wand and the few belongings Harry took from his trunk went flying back into it. The bed made itself and the linens freshened. Dumbledore turned and the young man noticed Tom standing behind him in his nightclothes with a really weird nightcap on his head. He did not seem happy.

"There Tom," the Headmaster said "Mr. Potter will be checking out now. Sorry for waking you so early."

Tom grumbled something unintelligible and sent a pointed look to Harry. The boy shook himself out of his stupor and hurriedly started to dress. He didn't even realize he was still in his sleeping gear. In a few minutes the Headmaster and Harry were trailing behind a still grumbling Tom and were let out into muggle London.

"Now, my boy, please hold on tight to me."

Harry awkwardly embraced the old man and then he felt as if he were being pressed through a tube that was way too small for him. It reminded him of toothpaste.

With a crack they appeared in a street similar to the one they have just disappeared from. Slightly disoriented and shaken Harry looked around and noted that they were still in London. Across the street he saw the houses Nr. 11. and 13. He vaguely wondered what had happened to Number 12 but taken the early hour and his recent experience with side-along apparation his brain wasn't really up to wondering about strange muggle street numbering.

Dumbledore thrust a small piece of paper into his hand. He frowned down at the folded piece of parchment then looked up at the Headmaster.

"Read it, Harry."

He unfolded the parchment and read the few words written on it.

**Sirius Black and the Order of the Phoenix reside at 12 Grimmauld Place**

Harry looked up and saw Number 11 and 13 jump apart and a huge, dark town house spring up between them. He felt his jaw slacken.

Dumbledore took the parchment from him and it burst into flames.

"The house in under the Fidelius charm, no one is able to see without the secret-keeper telling them the location." Dumbledore explained "Quite ingenious charm, the Fidelius is,"

"Who is the secret-keeper?"

"Why, it's me Harry."

The young boy nodded and relaxed. His parents were hidden under the Fidelius too and it only took one traitorous rat as a secret-keeper for the unbreakable protection to shatter and leave his parents as free game to Voldemort. Dumbledore had dubious talent at choosing teachers but Harry had no doubt that he would never betray his godfather to Voldemort.

"What is the Orde.." Harry started as they were walking towards the house.

"We should talk about that inside the wards, Harry." came the sharp interruption from the wizened wizard.

Harry mutely nodded and they opened the door to the dark house.

"Quietly, my boy."

Harry frowned not understanding the strange order, surely Sirius wouldn't mind if he were a little loud? However he did as the Headmaster told him to.

They quietly entered the house. It was just as dark and foreboding in the inside as on the outside, if not even more so. The dark wallpaper was peeling, the hallway was illuminated by a large ornate chandelier and a few gas lamps. On one of the walls was a huge portrait shrouded by dark blue curtains. Everything was covered by dusty spider-webs.

Harry's mouth hang open at such obvious lack of care and cleaning the house must have gone through. During his years with the Dursleys he got used to every furnace being shiny and clean and well-kept. It didn't matter that usually he was the one that had to clean, he probably would start here too, on his own accord in a few hours. The house looked barely habitable. And he had only seen the hallway yet!

Dumbledore led him into what must've been the kitchen. There was a long oak table with matching chairs and a large cabinet that had the same symbol as the seal on his letter. Harry smiled, the kitchen seemed to be freshly cleaned, maybe the other parts would be like it too. Sirius did hint that the house had been unoccupied for some time.

"Sit down Harry," said Dumbledore "I'm sure Sirius will be with us in a moment."

"Ron and Hermione are here?" asked Harry.

"Yes, they have been here since.."

"Harry! Professor Dumbledore!" burst Sirius through the door.

"Sirius!" screamed Harry and flew into his Godfather's outstretched arms.

"How 've you been kiddo?" asked Sirius "I didn't expect you to arrive for at least a few days yet!"

Harry's grin turned sheepish at the older man's inquisitive and excited stare.

"Well, you see," he started "I might have took the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron yesterday when I got your letter..."

"Harry!" admonished Sirius "That was a dangerous stunt to pull!"

Harry hid his head between his shoulders and peered up at the black haired man from under his fringe. However Sirius was incapable of being angry with his godson for long so his excited smile was soon back.

Harry grinned then too and stepped out of the embrace to examine the man's appearance. Sirius still had his hair the same shoulder length. But now the shabby black mess had a healthy shine and it was clean without any knots. His angular face filled in a bit so it was not as gaunt as it had been in fourth year. His complexion also lost its sickly white pallor and was instead a healthy mix of milky white and red from the excitement of seeing Harry again. He lost his torn brown and grey clothes and was instead dressed in a fine dark blue tunic and black slacks with black slippers, he had probably just woken up. He was quite a few inches taller that Harry. It was obvious through his clothes that he had gained some much needed weight, though he was still quite slim.

Harry grinned, it was good to see Padfoot in such a good shape.

"Sirius, have you thought about my advice about the Black Library?" interrupted Dumbledore his thoughts "Now that Harry is here too some of those texts are..."

"My answer is still the same Headmaster." the black haired main said in a strong voice "You are not allowed to take anything from the library, however you are free to browse whenever you feel the need. I have also considered your worries about the children and decided to spell the darker books to scream if someone under-age tries to read them."

"I see." conceded the old man.

Harry noticed that the blue eyes lost some of their twinkle and his tone held some reproach. However it didn't seem like Sirius was bothered by it.

"Well then I leave you two to get re-acquainted." were the Headmaster's parting words "Sirius, don't forget that tomorrow night we're having a meeting."

"Of course, Professor. Take care."

"Bye, Headmaster."

Dumbledore nodded his grey head towards them and swiftly left. After his departure Harry turned to Sirius.

"What kind of meeting?" he asked "Does it have a connection with 'The Order of the Phoenix'?"

"Where did you hear about the Order?" the taller man sputtered.

"Dumbledore gave me a parchment with the words 'Sirius Black and the Order of the Phoenix reside at 12 Grimmauld Place'." the boy told him.

"Oh, I see." sighed Sirius. "The Order was founded back at the time of Voldemort's first rise. It consists of a group of people dedicated to stop him. Your Mum and Dad were members too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'll try to find you a picture of the old crowd okay?"

"Thanks!" grinned Harry.

Sirius smiled back, grabbed Harry's trunk and turned towards the door.

"Come on kiddo. We should bring your luggage upstairs."

"Okay."

"Sorry, but you'll have to bunk in with Ron. We could only clean a few rooms yet. But if you want your own room then we can clean one in the afternoon for you."

"Oh it's fine. I always bunked with Ron when I stayed in the Burrow and we share a dormitory." Harry grinned "I'm quite used to him and he doesn't snore like Neville."

"The Longbottom kid?"

"Yeah, his name is Neville Longbottom, why?" inquired Harry as they quietly made their way upstairs passing an ugly troll-leg umbrella stand.

"Oh, I knew his parents, they were in the Order too,"

"Oh." the young wizard had half a mind to ask about them but something horrifying caught his attention before he could formulate his question, "Are those goblin heads?"

Sirius looked up at what Harry had pointed at and sighed non-committally.

"No, those are the shrunken heads of house elves that had served the Noble House of Black over the centuries."

"Ugh, why don't you take them off? They're disgusting." croaked Harry.

"Oh believe me, I would! But they were put there by elf magic, not even Dumbledore could take them off."

"Elf magic? An elf did that to another?"

"Yeah, rotten little creatures right?" Sirius grumbled.

Harry thought of Dobby, the slightly crazy house elf that tried to 'save' his life in second year and who still gave him Christmas and Birthday presents and would put an extra helping of Treacle Tart on his plate at every mealtime. Dobby was more warm-hearted than most humans and wizards put together. He couldn't imagine the small elf with his mismatched socks behead one of his companions and then stick their shrunken head to a wall like some kind of trophy.

"Umm, is this some kind of wizarding tradition?" 'Cuz then it's a very bizarre thing that I should somehow try and forget...and Merlin forbid!

"By any chance did Hermione see these?" groaned Harry.

Sirius chuckled.

"Oh, yeah. She still goes around lecturing everyone about such barbarism and she's been trying to civilize Kreacher." he said with a dark frown.

"Kreacher?"

"Yeah, my good for nothing house elf whose main goal in life is to have his head in this stairway." grumbled Sirius "And oh Merlin! I would be so happy to make that wish of his come true!"

Harry almost choked on his surprised laughter. Sirius threw a quick grin at him.

"But house elf heads? Your family had a strange sense in interior design."

The taller man snorted.

"Yeah. The Noble and Ancient House of Black. As dark as they come. You'll have to be on the look-out while cleaning too, there are some seriously nasty surprises." he said morosely.

They arrived at the top of the stairs and there was a long corridor lined with doors and lit by the same type of gas-lamps.

It was also in a sorry state however it was noticeable that it went under some serious cleaning in recent days. The wallpaper was some kind of strange plum purple that was red next to the lamps. Not really welcoming.

Sirius stopped next to a hardwood door and quietly eased it open. As they were walking inside Harry could make out Ron's quiet snores in the bed with a moving lump on it. There was another bed with the linens undisturbed. Sirius levitated his trunk next to it and placed it on the floor with a soft thud.

"Would you like to get some more sleep, Harry?" he asked is hushed tones.

"Naw, I'm wide awake already."

"Okay, then lets go back downstairs and we can talk." answered Sirius with a happy smile.

Once in the kitchen they sat down at the table just sitting there in silence for a few minutes. Listening to the old town-house creak around them.

"Who lives here besides us and Hermione and Ron?" asked finally Harry.

"The Weasley twins, hilarious pair those two, and the Weasley girl. You should hear my Mother's rants now that the house is run over by 'blood-traitors'." he snickered ruefully.

"Your Mother?" asked Harry surprised, he thought Sirius' parents were dead.

"Yeah, you remember that curtained portrait in the hallway? That's her."

"Oh, so she's dead?" the question was out before the dark haired boy could realize how rude and insensitive it was.

Once he did though he looked horrified at Sirius. He almost apologized when his godfather smiled and ruffled his hair, earning a scowl from him.

"Yeah, she is dead. I'm the last Black. Not that I'm awfully sorry for it."

Harry stared at him in incomprehension and horror.

"Harry, you must understand that my family was dark, very dark. Every one of them a Slytherin to the core. I believe Hermione is the first muggleborn to ever be in this house." the black haired man explained.

"They were Death Eaters?" the teen asked with a gasp. Sirius' family?

"No, but they thought Voldemort had the right idea. Pureblood supremacists the lot of them." Sirius sneered "Only my harebrained little brother shared those ideas with them though." he said with an assuring smile.

"You had a little brother?"

"Yes." from the dark undertone of his Godfather's voice the emerald eyed teen realized that their conversation about Sirius' family was over.

He fidgeted on his chair uncomfortably in the dense silence. He peered at the older man from the corner of his eyes and saw him deep in thought with a frown on his face. He swung his legs and decided to leave the man to his thoughts for a while. His gaze wandered to the clock on the wall over the cabinet and realized that it was now nearing the time everyone would wake up. Maybe he could make breakfast? He spied the pantry door from where he sat and jumped up from his chair to open it and start cooking with what he found when a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, Sirius, would you mind if I made breakfast for everyone? Umm, or would Kreacher mind?"

"Kreacher?" came the incredulous snort "The last time that little shit made any edible food was when my Mother was still alive!"

Harry was still looking at him, obviously waiting for his answer though there was a twinkle in his eyes from his previous sentence.

"No, Harry. I wouldn't mind if you made breakfast." he said, then " You can cook?"

"Yes." said Harry on his way to the kitchen, his tone didn't invite any more questions about said skill. Apparently Sirius didn't realize this.

"Where did you learn? Most wizards can't even boil water without magic," he snorted "with me in that category too."

Harry was already in the pantry rummaging through the numerous shelves so Sirius moved to follow his nephew.

"I learned it at my relatives' place. Would eggs and bacon be alright? Or pancakes?" the shorter boy called over his shoulder.

"You can make PANCAKES!" screamed Sirius in obvious delight.

"Yes." said Harry amusedly and watched his grown and manly Godfather prance across the kitchen singing a song about pancakes.

The man finally noticed his nephew standing in the pantry door quietly snickering at his antics and grinned unabashedly.

"Pancakes, please."

"Pancakes, it is." grinned Harry and put the ingredients on the counter.

HPCW

Fred and George found Harry at the stove making pancakes and Sirius sitting at the table devouring the already baked treats. The two redheads grinned at each other.

"Harry"

"We didn't know"

"That you were coming and"

"Feeding us too!" finished George while his twin went to twirl the smaller boy around.

Sirius grinned at them over his plate and put another bite into his mouth.

"And how well he's feeding us!" he said smiling in bliss. "I dare say his pancakes are better than Molly's!"

The twins grinned and sat down next to the rugged man, while Harry blushed under the compliment.

"Now that" started Fred.

"We must see!"

They both took a buttery pancake and started eating their grins widening on their faces. They looked at each other then at the blushing teen by the stove.

"We're keeping you!" they said in unison making the boy blush even harder and causing Sirius to laugh out loud.

"He'd make a lovely wife, right, boys?" quipped Sirius dodging the spatula Harry threw at him in indignation. Then they burst out laughing holding their sides while Harry watched them scowling, though a small smile and his dancing eyes betrayed his amusement.

HPCW

A few minutes later the same scene welcomed a drowsy Hermione and Ginny though by then Harry was also laughing at a tale the twins spun about one of their pranks and Ron. Apparently they passed their Apparition tests with flying colours. A fact of which they reminded everyone by popping in and out of room over the summer.

The girls glared at the lively males in the kitchen and Ginny plopped down on a seat not really realizing who the black haired teen at the stove was. However Hermione screamed in delight and ran across the kitchen.

In a moment Harry found himself surrounded by bushy brown hair and had an armful of teen-aged girl in his arms. Hermione's body pressed into his and made him, yet again, blush to his ears and the twins to laugh for an entirely different reason. Ginny also woke up a little more because of her friend and her eyes widened in realization.

"Harry!" she said at the same time as Hermione.

"When did you arrive? How was your summer? We've been in this horrible house, sorry Sirius, for almost the whole summer! Mrs. Weasley made us clean it! You won't believe how huge the doxies grew in one of the upstairs rooms!" she ranted "Oh, Harry!"

Harry laughed and tried to understand every jabbered word.

"Slow down Hermione!" he breathed.

The witch finally let him go and looked at him with scrutinizing eyes.

"You're awfully thin, Harry! Don't just make those pancakes, eat some too!" she made a shooing motion with her hand "There you go! Sit down before they gobble down everything! Honestly, men!"

She made Harry sit down and put a generous amount of food on his plate, glaring at one of the twins who tried to take one. Then she went back to finish baking the remaining pancakes shooting glares at the people surrounding her green eyed friend and encouraging him to eat more.

"Honestly, Hermione!" cried one of the twins indignantly "You are worse than Mum!"

This outburst made everyone laugh again. Harry smiled with his mouth full and wondered at the differences between this old, moulding and foreboding house and the Dursley home which was immaculate and foreboding in an entirely different way. He would take the house on Grimmauld which was filled with the overwhelming sense of dark magic and had shrunken elf-heads on the walls over the house on Privet Drive, where he was belittled and hated just for existing, any day. He could see that his Godfather didn't like his ancestral home and that Hermione and the twins would twitch at every creak the house made but Harry felt better than he had the whole summer.

He grinned seeing his bushy haired friend tut at Fred who stole one of his pancakes and the redhead guiltily put half of it back on his plate with a muttered 'Sorry' and 'Not like you're gonna eat all that, right, Harry?'

Yeah, life was good at Grimmauld.

HPCW

The twins, the two girls, Sirius and Harry had already finished breakfast by the time Mrs. Weasley arrived with a bag full of groceries and various breakfast foods already half made. She probably started them back at the Burrow so that she could finish them in a moment once she arrived.

Her eyes widened upon seeing all the empty and full plates and Harry Potter baking what must have been the last of the pancakes. She saw two of her sons sitting contentedly and patting their stomach listening to a story Sirius was telling them from when he was still in Hogwarts while Harry and Hermione talked quietly by the stove.

"Oh, my! Good morning, dears!" she exclaimed "I see you've already had breakfast."

Even while saying this she proceeded to ignore the pancakes in favour of making more food. In a moment she had the bacon and eggs on the stove while she started to mix the porridge.

"Mum! You have to try Harry's pancakes! They're divine!" urged George.

"Good morning Mrs. Weasley." chorused everyone not Weasley while Ginny and Fred just waved at their mother.

"Oh, Harry, dear! You shouldn't have! When did you arrive? Have you also eaten? You look awfully thin, dear. You should eat some more." she decided, not paying attention to Harry's half open mouth as he tried to answer "Would you like some bacon with eggs?"

"No, Mrs. Weasley, thank you." the boy said quickly, seeing the Weasley matron was already making her way to put the food on a clean plate "I'm full already, Hermione made sure of that." he said with a smile.

"Oh, well, then. Don't hesitate to ask if you're hungry, understood?" she said with a stern look, then turned to her children "Boys, Ginny, have you also eaten too? Hermione? Would you like some bacon? Sirius? You should put on some more weight!"

The older man smiled and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment at being treated like a child.

"Molly..."

"No, Mum. But you really should try Harry's pancakes!"

"In a moment. Where's Ron? Still sleeping?"

"Yeah," said George.

"Well, then, Ginny, dear, Run and wake him! We have lots of cleaning to do today!

Everyone groaned in unison while Harry looked at them, obviously amused.

"Surely it's not that bad?" he queried.

The twins looked at him with horrified expressions, while Hermione choked a bit.

"No, it's worse." answered Sirius finally "come on, lets get you into some suitable clothes."

HPCW

Once upstairs Sirius left Harry to his own devices and went to dress. Harry went into the room he shared with Ron to find his friend groaning in bed while Ginny was singing an off-tune muggle song into his ears. He grinned.

"Why, good morning!"

"Harry! Save me from this banshee, mate!"

The black haired boy snorted and moved towards his trunk to fish out same hand-me-downs he received from the Dursleys. They would be perfect for cleaning the old house.

"Naw, mate I'd rather not have her on my back, thanks!" he said with a grin.

Then Ron bolted uprights in his bed almost butting heads with Ginny, who hastily backed away from the bed, a surprised scowl on her face.

"Harry!" said Ron with wide eyes "You're here!"

He looked at the redhead in the bed with amusement swimming in his eyes while Ginny laughed outright.

"Yeah, I'm here." he conceded.

"But, when did you arrive?"

Harry looked at his tattered watch "Umm...about 3 hours ago, I guess."

"What?" Ron cried in outrage "Why ever did you get up that early? It's barely daybreak yet!"

"Ron! It's already half past seven! You'll have to get up much earlier once we're back at school!" came the admonishing voice of Hermione from the doorway.

"Yeah Ron, and Harry made pancakes!" quipped Ginny.

The red haired girl then promptly continued to sing the inane muggle pop song about rainbows and dewy fields. Ron groaned and pulled himself from under the comfortable covers, glaring at his younger sister who just smiled pleasantly at him and twirled her wand. The tall boy shuddered at that motion and quickly moved to get out his clothes for the day. Seeing that the boys were about to dress the two girls left them talking amiably about the twins' joke shop.

HPCW

After everyone had finished breakfast Mrs. Weasley herded everyone into a room upstairs. Harry realized that his first thoughts in the hallway were inaccurate. The hallway was clean. This room on the other hand!

For several moments he just stood in the doorway in astounded silence while the others were pouring inside sighing and muttering.

The room was much like the one that Ron and he would share from now on. Mrs. Weasley flicked her wand and the same type of gas lamps and a silver chandelier came to life lightening the room. If the goal was to make it more welcoming then it was a total and absolute fail. The lights highlighted the room's sorry state. Peeling and blotchy wallpaper of indefinable colour, maybe peach? Cobwebs and dust everywhere. There was a huge glass cabinet with smudgy doors and many things inside. Harry couldn't really make out what they were so he unconsciously moved forwards to better see through the dirty glass.

"Harry!" he heard the shrill voice of Hermione and Mrs. Weasley screaming at him at the same time.

In his surprise he stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, his hand outstretched towards the cabinet's door-handle.

"Don't touch the cabinets without Sirius or me!" scolded Mrs. Weasley.

"Yeah, mate. You shouldn't then either." said Ron from next to the curtains "All kinds of nasty stuff in those! A few days back I found a ring that actually wanted to eat my finger!" he whined.

"That was because it was a family ring!" rounded in on him Hermione "It's obvious that you shouldn't try on any heirlooms of Dark families!"

Ron blushed a brilliant red that clashed horribly with his hair, then paled staring towards the door where the last Black had just then entered. Seeing his friend's face Hermione turned around and blushed to her ears.

"Umm, Sirius..."

But Sirius did not acknowledge her sputtering but turned towards Harry.

"Harry, what are you doing there?" he asked with a definite sharpness in his tone "Don't touch those cabinets without me okay? Wouldn't put it past them to bite your hand right off."

The boy gulped and nodded, Sirius was rarely so serious. No pun intended. The man then turned towards the others, especially to Hermione who was still looking at him nervously. "Sorry." she said.

Sirius blinked at her. "For what? Calling my family dark? That's what they were, I'm not in denial about it, Hermione. I haven't been for quite some years now." he smiled ruefully.

Hermione almost said something but then they were interrupted by the high pitched scream of Ron, who managed to pull the curtains open with the help of his brothers. They were swarmed by small beetle like creatures with black fur covering their bodies. For a moment Harry thought they were fairies, they were moving so fast and on shiny wings.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed and stepped back as one of the small things zapped close to his face and opened its mouth intent on biting his nose.

He heard his Godfather shout "Stupefy!" and the creature that was totally not a fairy, what with those sharp teeth, dripping something that Harry was sure must have been venom, and small beady eyes, fell to his feet. Harry looked up and saw that everyone was shouting that same spell, except for Ron, Hermione and Ginny who were still under-age. They were battling the creatures with anything that fit in their hands and was useful against the things.

The hardwood floor was soon littered by the small furry creatures, they were actually quite evil looking, with their black faces and sharp teeth. He puffed out a breath and looked around the room of panting people. Hermione's hair was even fuzzier than usual and Ginny's silky locks were out of place too. Mrs. Weasley and Sirius also looked quite ruffled. He imagined he looked something like them, though his hair was not nearly as long. Only Ron and the twins who had short hair came out of the small battle relatively normal looking. Though they were panting and quite red in the face too.

Ron was also nursing a bite on one of his fingers. His mother swiftly handed him a potion and Ron downed it without complaint. It looked quite practised.

As did the quick movements of the twins. They were actually collecting the unconscious creatures into a small bag while their Mother was preoccupied by Ron.

Then Sirius grinned at him. "Welcome to Grimmauld, Harry."

HPCW

The first week of his stay was filled with cleaning the doxy infested and run-down house, and hearty meals at the huge kitchen table, with lots of laughing and bonding. He got to know Kreacher, the mean and muttering house-elf. He and Ron had almost attacked the creature when it spewed some overly vicious things about Hermione's heritage. They had to listen to the girl's lecture for almost an hour after that stunt. He also had several run ins with Sirius' mother.

Walburga Black was a horrid woman. Harry understood what Sirius meant by not being sorry for her death. He felt his dislike for any other Black than Sirius increase when his Godfather showed him the family tapestry. There were way too many black holes to be healthy in any family and he actually learnt that he was cousins with a lot of Death Eaters and even Malfoy! Though thank Merlin it wasn't a close relation. He learnt that most pure-blooded families were connected, usually by more than one family member. "In-breeding" Sirius said.

Harry got closer to Sirius than he had been in the 2 years since they have known each other. He watched increasingly worried as his exuberant and brave Godfather suffered from being locked up in his childhood home.

Sirius told him about his escape from the family when he was 16 and the happy years he had living at the Potter residence. Harry listened to the stories he told about his father with gleaming eyes, grateful for every little information.

He noticed that Sirius sometimes had trouble realizing who Harry was actually. His godson or his long lost best-friend. He sometimes called Harry 'James'. Sometimes he realized it. Then he looked at his godson guiltily with lots of sadness and a little anger in his eyes. Harry didn't know if he was angry at him, for not being James, or at himself, for not being able to make the distinction. Probably a little of both. Then he would promptly run off and spend hours with Buckbeak in one of the rooms on the 3rd floor.

All the same Harry adored his ex-convict Godfather. He thought about how to make his life easier. He was increasingly worried that someday Sirius would defy the main rule of his life and just go out. Harry was very scared of losing the last family he had.

HPCW

On Friday their Hogwarts letters arrived. Harry was with Ron in their room when Mrs. Weasley brought the letters.

Harry was reading through his list of supplies for his Fifth Year at Hogwarts with a frown on his face. He lifted his head to ask Ron if he had the Defence textbook in his letter, since they obviously forgot to write it in his.

However Ron's face was a rather unhealthy shade of yellowish red with white blotches so he quickly forgot about it.

"Ron?" he asked "You all right, mate?"

The taller boy looked at him from his letter with a slightly hysterical gleam in his eyes.

"I'm prefect."

"What?" Harry was sure he heard wrong.

Now that Ron mentioned it he remembered that the Prefects were appointed in 5th Year. But Ron? His grades were not nearly as good as most of their Gryffindor classmates. He wondered if Hermione made it. Then internally snorted. Who else if not Hermione?

However Ron was not dissuaded by his apparent disbelief and it seemed that he finally realized the fact himself. "I'm PREFECT!" he grinned at Harry and held up the shiny badge with a big 'P' on it.

Harry was still staring at him disbelieving and Ron was just about to frown and call him on his lack of enthusiasm when Hermione burst into the room.

"I'm prefect!" she screamed obviously ecstatic, then turned to Harry not seeing the red-head's opening mouth "Were you appointed too Harry? Yours were the best grades is Defence Against the Dark Arts and you're the second best Gryffindor in Charms!" it went without saying that she was the first of all houses.

Harry was just about to answer when he saw Ron's face colour, this time not from happy embarrassment but because of anger.

"No, Harry didn't make Prefect." he said icily "I did."

"What?" Hermione asked stupidly. However Ron had already stormed from the room.

Harry put his face in his hands and mumbled "Ron was appointed the Gryffindor Prefect with you, not me." he tried to quell the pang of jealousy and bitterness he felt at it, but he could hear that it didn't really work.

"Oh." came the uncharacteristic reply from Hermione.

"Yeah," Harry agreed "oh."

HPCW

Ron held onto his grudge for almost the whole day. Though both Hermione and Harry said their heartfelt congratulations to him. Well they were heartfelt from Harry too after a few hours of stewing. When he got over his indignation at being denied something that he felt he deserved and something that he actually wished for on some level. After all it would have been the materialization of his heroic and selfless tendencies in a normal fashion.

But then he realized that he really did hate being in the spotlight. And being a prefect would have automatically put him in the spotlight. For everyone. He probably could not have managed with any more attention than what he already had just for being The-Boy-Who-Lived, thank you very much.

After he realized this he actually meant his happiness for Ron. The poor boy was constantly teased by the twins and Mrs. Weasley told everyone who listened that every one of her sons was a prefect now! Which, in turn, made the twins send her indignant remarks such as 'And what are we? Puppies?'. It was hilarious.

Ron was constantly blushing and obviously uncomfortable but it was also easy to see that he basked in the attention he received. Though it dampened slightly when Mrs. Weasley announced that they would hold a party for Ron and Harry the next day. For Harry as a belated birthday party and for Ron to celebrate his accomplishment. It was clear how proud the Weasley matron was at her youngest son.

Mrs. Weasley actually wanted to hold the party that very evening but there was an Order meeting. Actually in the one week since Harry was there they already held two meetings.

The children were banished to their rooms every time, though Sirius fought on Harry's side, insisting that they let Harry sit in on the meetings. Truth be told Harry couldn't decide if he felt angry at being left out or happy. His more pressing worry was that the Headmaster refused to look at him whenever he visited.

However since the last time Fred and George had brought out their newest invention, The 'Extendable Ears', they had all the same information as everyone else in the house. The twins were brilliant at Charms, even Hermione admitted this.

However they didn't get any really interesting information from that first Order of the Phoenix meeting they eavesdropped on, except for the fact that apparently Mundungus Fletcher was missing. Harry's mouth hang open when he heard that there was a circulation of guards around Privet Drive for his safety. He thought of Mrs. Figg's daily visits with suspicion but quickly brushed it aside. Mrs. Figg? No way! And if he thought about it, it was quite reasonable that he had guards, after all, Voldemort was back. Still, some guards they were if he could just walk away!

Not that the twins were dissuaded from listening in on other meetings. He could see from the mischievous smirks on their faces that they'd be spying that night too. He actually found himself excited at the prospect.

HPCW

For the Order meeting that night there were two more participants than before. Bill and Charlie arrived in time to have dinner with everyone. Harry had last seen them last year during the Tournament so he had mixed feelings when they appeared. Seeing Charlie and Bill brought back memories of Cedric and the fight in the graveyard. The dead eyes. And strangely the long, dark corridors he had been dreaming about.

He was still happy to see them though. Bill was like a very cool big brother to him and, though he didn't know him as well, Charlie also seemed like a nice person, even if he seemed to be worried about something at the moment. And he worked with dragons! How cool was that?

So he smiled and greeted them warmly. Many other Order members also came in time to have dinner with them at the huge kitchen table. Like Nymphadora Tonks, or Tonks as she insisted to be called, who entertained the company by changing her appearance according to their wishes. Apparently she was a metamorphmagus. Harry asked her if she could teach him with no little hope to acquire the ability to blend into the crowds. However Tonks told him that it was an ability one must be born with not something you learn.

Professor McGonagall and several other Order members also voted for the dinner the Weasley matron made. The only people who arrived in time to see Mrs. Weasley shoo the children into their rooms was Snape and the Headmaster.

Harry wasn't surprised at Snape, he always made it his priority to spend as little time in Grimmauld or around other people as he could. It was still not short enough for him. At the previous meetings he realized that Snape's hate for his old schoolmate did not abide over the years. Well, that shouldn't have surprised him. Snape hated him too, just for being a Potter. Harry made peace with himself about the Potions Professor having the Dark Mark, hell he actually defended the man in front of Ron. Why couldn't he forgive a child, several years younger than him, for something he couldn't have control over? The git.

Dumbledore however yet again made a point to avoid looking at Harry. He greeted all the children quite jovially but just when his gaze would've swept over Harry he quickly turned his head. Harry felt sick. Why was the old man doing this?

HPCW

The Order meeting started boring as usual. Dumbledore greeting everyone. Harry was more occupied by the fact that he was lying next to Ron on the top of the stairs and the red-head found a reason to drive his elbow into his side every other minute.

Then came a report from a voice that Harry realized belonged to Hestia Jones.

"Headmaster, during my patrol around Privet Drive yesterday, I admit, till now I didn't know why ever you wanted us to guard Potter's good -for-nothing family! I met his cousin on a street not far from their house and he was about to get his soul sucked out by a dementor! There were two dementors! Two!" she cried desperately.

"What?" bellowed Sirius "Weren't the dementors still under the Ministry, Kingsley?" he asked reproachfully.

However the black man couldn't answer because Dumbledore cut in.

"How is the boy, Hestia?" he asked urgently "Were you on time?"

"Yes, I was." she assured "Just so, but the boy's soul is quite intact. I don't know, however, what he told his parents, since you forbid us from using magic on them."

Harry grinned at that. He would so love to be present for that conversation! He momentarily dismissed the part about Dumbledore forbidding the Order members from using magic on his relatives. In his daydreams he completely missed the next few seconds of the meeting and only came back to himself because Ron, yet again, embedded his elbow in his side. He turned to frown at the lanky boy but his friend was motioning with his head towards the kitchen so Harry turned back to the conversation through his Extendable Ear.

For some reason they were yet again arguing if he should have been allowed in the meeting. Most probably Sirius had brought it up again. They were arguing about it in the previous two times too. And it would probably end up like last time...

"We have talked about this already, Sirius!" bellowed Dumbledore in the end "Harry is not yet of age, as such he can not be a member of the Order!"

"He is just a child, Sirius!" cried Molly "Why ever would you want him in the middle of the war?"

There was a heavy, unbelieving silence upon that sentence. Harry stared ahead without seeing anything. Mrs. Weasley seriously believed that whatever happened on the war-front Harry wouldn't be in the middle of it? That's crazy! So far Voldemort attacked him one way or another every year! Hell, she was there when he brought back Cedric's dead body! He still flushed at that particular memory. He was really unused to hugs.

"Yes, Molly, quite." acquiesced the Headmaster "What news from the Ministry, Kingsley?"

"Fudge still denies that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned." he said morosely "He is telling everyone how you're trying to overturn the Ministry, by spewing lies, Headmaster."

"Well, It seems my hope, that Cornelius will see reason was misplaced." said the Headmaster with a heavy sigh "It seems he will make our work even harder."

The students lying on the steps heard Sirius snort through the earpieces. "You actually expected Cornelius Fudge to do anything but? The man is completely useless!"

"As much as I hate to agree with the mutt on anything it is so." said Snape "Fudge will only accept the truth when the Dark Lord walks into his office." he sneered.

Dumbledore sighed again. "Yes, that might be so." then he moved the conversation "Bill?"

"The goblins are restless Headmaster. However they won't tell me the reason." Ron's brother sounded upset "They keep saying that something is coming, something that would have an impact on their bank-system, but they immediately shut up when they see me."

"That's quite troubling, my dear boy." Dumbledore agreed "Quite troubling indeed."

However he did not elaborate on his thoughts.

"What do you know about the reactions abroad?" he asked at last "Do the foreign governments believe us?"

There was a quiet gasp in the room and then the Headmaster's voice "Charlie?"

"Well, Romania, for one, certainly believes that He is back." he said in a strong voice "They ordered every British wizard and witch to leave the country." he finished quietly.

He heard Ron and the twins sharp intake of breath. That meant Charlie lost his job at the dragon reserve. Harry felt saddened at the thought.

"Oh, Charlie! Why didn't you tell us?" asked Mrs. Weasley weakly "I thought it was strange that you've been at home for almost a week now, but..."

"I was trying to make them change their decision, Mum. I have been sending owls to the Reserve, to my friends and superiors but it's out of their hands." Harry had the impression that Charlie's head was in his hands "They're afraid. Afraid that You-Know-Who will go there again. You probably don't know but there are horror stories about the few years He spent there as a...a ghost, or whatever He was. They don't want him there as himself." he finished with a sigh.

"That's most unfortunate, my boy." Dumbledore said "It, however, is quite beneficial to one of my ideas." he said.

Harry bristled. Beneficial to his ideas? Charlie lost his dragons and the Headmaster already has an idea to use him? The boy glowered at the stair in front of him.

"How well do you know young Harry?" The room was obviously just as thrown by the sudden change of topic as the eavesdroppers.

"Harry?" Charlie asked and the old man must have nodded for he soon continued "Well I have met him last year at the Burrow and we went to the Cup, and of course at the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He is quite good on a broom and he handled that Horntail beautifully!" Harry blushed at that and Ron snickered next to him, just to earn a swat on his shoulder from Hermione "But I think Bill is closer to him than me. Right?" he must've turned to his brother at that.

"Yes, I think we're good friends with Harry." they heard Bill say and Harry felt his insides warm up. So Bill thought so too! He smiled.

"Why, Headmaster?" that was Charlie again.

"I just wanted to know how you would feel at becoming Harry's bodyguard at Hogwarts this year?"

"WHAT?" several people shouted at once, including Ron, even though Hermione and Harry quickly plastered their hands over his mouth and he grinned sheepishly. Hermione looked lost in thought. Harry was also surprised. Bodyguard?

"I thought you said Hogwarts was safe, Dumbledore!" accused Sirius.

"Well, yes it is from outside foes." he admitted "I, however, cannot vouch for certain students." he said with sadness in his tone. They heard Snape grunt.

Everyone knew he was talking about the Slytherins. "Malfoy!" Ron breathed, angered at the mere thought of the blond boy. Harry quietly agreed though he would've included the Defence teachers in that statement.

"But..." Charlie started "How would I even get inside the castle? You cannot mean to tell the entire student body that I'm to be Harry Potter's bodyguard?" he cried disbelieving.

They heard Snape's derisive snort. "It's obvious you'd be there as some kind of teacher, probably Defence Against the Dark Arts, idiot Gryffindor."

"Now there, Snivellus!" Sirius shouted "No one asked your opinion!"

They heard a chair fall back closely followed by another. Harry was afraid the two would fight there, in the middle of a meeting.

"Calm down, my boys!" said Dumbledore at the same time as Mrs. Weasley's shrilly screamed "Sirius! Severus! Don't you feel ashamed of yourselves? Behave!" even the small group's ears ringed, Harry didn't want to think about what the people in the room felt. Mrs. Weasley could be scary. And a few moments later he heard two chairs slide up again and he thought he even heard a muttered "Yes, ma'am." from Sirius!

"I'm sorry to say Severus, that the Defence position is not available for Charlie to take..."

"You think my son is not qualified?" interrupted the Headmaster Mr. Weasley surprising everyone with the quiet protectiveness in his voice.

"No, Arthur, I believe Charlie to be quite capable of filling the position." Dumbledore placated "However the Board of Governors informed me of their wish to appoint a teacher for the post themselves."

Meaning they ordered Dumbledore not to look for a teacher himself.

"Who?" came the sharp question from the dour Potions professor.

"I don't know." the old wizard admitted.

That sounded ominous. However Harry though the person the Governors chose couldn't be a lot worse than some the Headmaster himself would. He had prior experience to that.

"Then what would be my position in the school Headmaster?" Charlie queried.

"I thought you'd make an excellent caretaker next to our dear Mr. Filch." Dumbledore said jovially and Charlie groaned. "He can't quite take care of every magical problem the castle has for obvious reasons." Harry could almost see the twinkles in the man's blue eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**I decided here would be a good place to finish this chapter. So now I announce that the 3****rd**** chapter of 'Emerald Cocoon' is finally finished! It's by far the longest chapter I've ever written and the hardest too. It was a real fight with words. I have proofread it a few times so I hope it's up to the standards of the previous two.**

**I tried to keep everyone in character as much as I could. And Charlie finally made an appearance! And he is staying! Yay! I was so waiting for him! :)**

**I thank you for reading this chapter too!**

**Please share your thoughts. I always dance around for a whole day when I receive a review! **


End file.
